The present invention relates to a wiper for the printing wheel of a high speed wire or cable printer and more particularly to such a wiper which wipes the side surfaces of the printing wheel.
High speed printing machines are utilized in the wire or cable manufacturing industry to imprint the cable with indicia indicative of the cable type, Underwriter Laboratories code, manufacturer's identification, etc. These machines typically imprint indicia on a wire travelling at the rate of 4,000 feet per minute, and are known in the industry as "markers."
The markers typically comprise a rotating printing wheel engraved with the indicia to be printed and one or more guide rolls for guiding the cable past the face of the rotating printing wheel. The rotating printing wheel is supplied with a stream of printing ink which is pumped through a nozzle directed to the face of the printing wheel. A wiper for wiping excess ink from the face and sides of the printing wheel is pivotably mounted and spring biased so as to contact the face and sides of the printing wheel to remove excess ink from the wheel. The wiper of the prior art utilizes a machined brass wiper blade holder having a pair of longitudinally extending arms for carrying a nylon wiper blade. The wiper blade holder is so mounted and positioned on the printer as to receive the printing wheel between the arms and wipe the face of the printing wheel with the nylon blade, while wiping the side surfaces of the printing wheel with the extending end surfaces of the arms of the brass wiper blade holder.
However, at the high speeds of rotation of the printing wheel, the brass arms wiping the side surfaces of the printing wheel quickly become worn and printing ink is sprayed between the worn gap, coating the cable with excess ink. To overcome this problem it was necessary to replace the brass wiper blade holder, which involved considerable expense. Additionally, in the prior art a shield was used to ensure that excess ink would not be sprayed through the worn gap, but would be funneled to an ink pot disposed beneath the printing wheel. A more detailed description of the prior art wiper and shield will be found hereinafter in the specification.